Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Journeys of the Baby Boom Generation

Making up to a third of our population, Baby Boomers have a major influence on our culture. But what, if anything, do they believe spiritually? Starting with a close-up look at the lives of seven specific individuals, the author goes on to examine the various religious and other institutions which appeal to the Boomer generation. The author makes the case that there is a genuine "boomer culture", giving details and examples to prove his point.He also illustrates the trends in religion and the subcultures that are emerging, including "loyalists" (those who never truly dropped out of a religious tradition), "returnees" (those who dropped out but later returned) and "dropouts" as well as privatized religions and alternative groups. The final section of the book discusses implications for the future of our society. Overall, a thoughtful, well-researched book with fascinating details.

One in every four of them say they can imagine God as a Mother. One in three are born-again Christians. Two in three support the ordination of women. Who are they? Whether you think of them as the Love Generation, the Now Generation, the Pepsi Generation, the Rock Generation, or the Me Generation, they are the "boomers," the baby boom generation of 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964. Many people have speculated about the boomers' beliefs and higher values (or lack of same). Now the details of their spiritual worldview has received substantial factual representation in the new book A Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Journeys of the Baby Boom Generation (Harper San Francisco). It's a massive study that tells us all we ever wanted to know about the spiritual lives of baby boomers but didn't have the means to find out. The research, involving surveys as well as in depth interviewing, was funded by the Lilly Foundation. The director of the research and author of the book reporting the results, is Wade Clark Roof, who is J. F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Roof compiled 80 questions to ask of a stratified sample of 1600 boomers, plus some comparative groups of older Americans. Among the questions: Do you feel God is personally involved in your life? Do you believe God is "within us"? How much do you think about why there is suffering in the world? What happens after death? Is it good to explore many different religious teachings and learn from them, or should one stick to a particular faith? The researchers followed up this survey with an in-depth telephone interview conducted with one third of the respondents. Then they conducted face-to-face interviews with 64 of these people. There followed several group meetings with respondents to discuss in still more depth some of the spiritual or religious issues that emerged in the earlier interviews. Clearly, the study was thorough. The book contains so many interesting charts and statistics, it is easy to graze among the facts. When asked, for example, "For you, which is more important: to be alone and to meditate, or to worship with others?" 53 per cent preferred to be alone, and 29 per cent preferred to worship with others. 28 per cent indicated a belief in reincarnation and 26 a belief in astrology. These two figures were constant, regardless of level of education. In the older generation, belief in these two controversial areas existed mainly in the less educated. Six